Gene Roddenberry.

There would be no Star Trek without its creator, Gene Roddenberry. Known as the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Roddenberry was determined to talk about issues from which the censors of the time shied away. It’s thanks to his vision to create of a science fiction show that went deeper than what was on television at the time—and his willingness to fight for it—that we have stories like “Balance of Terror,” “Plato’s Stepchildren,” and “The City on the Edge of Forever.”

In this episode of Standard Orbit, hosts Drew Stewart and Mike Schindler take a look at Roddenberry, his work on The Original Series, how his vision of the future changed with The Next Generation, and what he would have thought of the Trek created after his death.

The Special Effects of the Star Trek Movies. Star Trek has always been more about substance than spectacle, but that's not to say the franchise hasn't given us its fair share of impressive visuals over the years, especially in the films. We're taking a look at the evolution of the special effects from The Motion Picture all the way up through the Kelvin Timeline films, discussing highlights, low-lights, and of course old school practical techniques vs. modern computer generated images.

Montalban v. Cumberbatch. "Khan Noonien Singh is the most dangerous adversary the Enterprise ever faced. He is brilliant, ruthless and he will not hesitate to kill every single one of you." Those are the words Ambassador Spock used to describe Star Trek's most iconic villain, and in this episode of Standard Orbit our...Khanversation revolves around who makes a better Khan, Montalban or Cumberbatch? We're going to look at the Khans from the perspective of character, screen presence, passion, and villainy. A Khanparison if you will.

Hosts Zach and Ken stop all engines and secure all operations and take time to acknowledge their appreciation for the support of their listeners, contributors on the Babel Conference, new friends from STLV 50, and the Standard Orbit production team. They try to name them all!

The Alternative Factor. The Alternative Factor is rather infamous in Star Trek fandom, and there are many factors (see what we did there?) and behind-the-scenes reasons for why things turned out the way they did. Who better to join us in our discussion on this episode than host of Melodic Treks Brandon Shea-Mutula, known for his unique taste when it comes to Star Trek, and who makes his case for why The Alternative Factor is one of his favorites!

Star Trek Beyond on Home Video. November 1, 2016 marked the release of Star Trek Beyond on home video, and there have been several versions made available to consumers. In this episode of Standard Orbit, Norman C. Lao returns to help us break down what makes each release unique and pros, cons, and differences between them!

TNG as TOS 2. We had such a fun time transposing first season TNG episodes to fourth season TOS episodes, we thought we'd do it again! This time we're looking at the Next Generation's second season for potential adventures that could've easily been part of The Original Series' fifth.

Star Trek Origins: Cloaking Device. In this episode of Standard Orbit, we launch into our second origins outline looking at the deployment and use of the cloaking device from is initial debut in Balance of Terror, to its evolution over the course of the franchise through The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

TNG as TOS. The early seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation get a bad rep, and are often criticized as feeling like an "extension of TOS" or "1960s TV in the 1980s." Right or wrong, good or bad, in this episode of Standard Orbit, Ken and Zach discuss a handful of season one TNG adventures that would feel more at home on Kirk's Enterprise than Picard's.

The Ships of the Kelvin Timeline. In this episode of Standard Orbit, Ken and Zach give the listeners what they want...more starship talk! Following up on our recent thread in the Babel Conference, this is the second part of our discussion, this time focusing on the ships of the Kelvin Timeline!

The Ships of TOS, Prime Timeline. In this episode of Standard Orbit, Ken and Zach give the listeners what they want...starship talk! After our discussion thread on starship designs lit up the Babel Conference we decided it called for a podcast or two on the subject.

Where No Man Has Gone Before. In this episode of Standard Orbit, Ken and Zach are joined by Melodic Trek's Brandon-Shea Mutala to dive deep into Star Trek's second pilot and and discuss what makes Where No Man Has Gone Before such a great launching point for the original series.

Star Trek Origins: Star Trek III. In this episode of Standard Orbit, we start a new series of discussions focusing on the origins of key concepts and events that influenced the franchise for years to come. This week, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock!

Kristine M. Smith discusses her friendship with DeForest Kelley. Her book; DeForest Kelly: Up Close and Personal, is a wonderful life journey that allows the reader to get to know the very kind and wonderful couple of DeForest and Caroline Kelley.

The Man Trap Commentary. 50 years ago on this very day, Star Trek hit the airwaves for the very first time at 8:30pm EST on NBC. That episode was The Man Trap, and what better way to celebrate Star Trek's golden anniversary than by watching it along with us?

Reflections on Standard Orbit and BEYOND. Norman C. Lao and Jeffrey Harlan had the pleasure to record their final episode together as hosts of Standard Orbit. They reflect on their time on the show and BEYOND!

Norm's Reflections on The Kelvin Era Movies. Unable to participate on the previous few Standard Orbits, Commodore Norman C. Lao decided to pull rank for a brief Standard Orbit interlude, to record his own thoughts on this new movie universe.

Star Trek INTO DARKNESS. In this episode of Standard Orbit, your Refit Crew continues their voyage through the Original Series “Kelvin Era” Movies with Star Trek INTO DARKNESS; the much anticipated sequel to Star Trek 2009.

Star Trek 2009. In this episode of Standard Orbit, your Refit Crew continues their voyage through the Original Series “ERA” Movies with Star Trek 2009; the 11th film in the Star Trek cinematic universe.

Star Trek VI: The Re-Discovered Klingons. In this episode of Standard Orbit, your Refit Crew continues their voyage through the Original Series Cast Movies with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; heading towards July 22 and BEYOND!

No One Sets Out To Make A Bad Movie. In this episode of Standard Orbit, your Refit Crew continues their voyage through the Original Series Cast Movies with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier; heading towards July 22 and BEYOND!

Voyaging Home. In this episode of Standard Orbit, your Refit Crew continues their voyages through the Original Series Cast Movies with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, as they head towards July 22 and BEYOND!

Searching for Spock. Star Trek BEYOND is nearly upon us and your refit crew felt that a “logical” follow-up to Temporal Trailer Park 1 & 2 would be to a return to the Original Series movie franchise starting with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

Temporal Trailer Park Two. As we continue our ramping-up to Star Trek BEYOND in July, we are going to take a look at the second-half of Star Trek movie trailers from Star Trek VI in 1991 through to the recently released BEYOND Trailer 2.

The Misconception of Perception. The Original Series episode “Is There In Truth No Beauty?” from Season Three, is an incredibly deep and philosophical exploration into the more complex meanings behind the nature of one’s self.

The A to Z of Trekipedia.com. There is a truism when it comes to fandom: The Devil is in the Details ... or at many times, the lack or inconsistency thereof. Canon, in and of itself, is a very delicate proposition.

Feedback from the Fans and The Babel Conference. Nearly four months and 14 episodes later, the Refit Team just wanted to check in with all of our supporters and listeners to see if we have settled into a nice and steady cruising speed.